What’s New in Catalysis and How Does it Relate to CLEERS and Automotive Catalysis?

Bob  McCabe, National Science Foundation

I retired from Ford Motor Company at the end of 2014 and joined NSF as a program director.  My catalysis world view has changed dramatically in the last year and a half as I have transitioned from an active industrial researcher focused rather narrowly on details of automotive exhaust catalysis to a federal funder responsible for shepherding research across the broad spectrum of heterogeneous catalysis.  I’d like to share this transition with you in two ways: 1) by providing specific information on the history of automotive catalysis funding in NSF, the current status, and future prospects, and more importantly, 2) by providing an overview of the broader issues, challenges, and opportunities in catalysis research and their potential implications for CLEERS and the automotive catalysis research community in general.